Being in the office over Christmas is no fun, say workers, as 84 per cent believe businesses should do more to embrace the spirit of the season

Hayley Kirton covered law, professional services and banking at City A.M.

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Hayley Kirton

Two out of five businesses closes for just two bank holidays over Christmas (Source: Getty)

If you wish you felt more of that festive feeling while at work, you're not alone. A survey by CV-Library shown exclusively to City A.M. discovered that 84 per cent of employees believe businesses should make more of an effort to embrace the Christmas spirit if they cannot shut the office doors for the festive season.

Two in five (40 per cent) businesses are Scrooges when it comes to time off, only shutting down for the bare minimum of two bank holidays, while over a quarter (26 per cent) of employees say they are not allowed to take time off at all over the festive season.

"It's not realistic for every business to close their doors over the Christmas period but there are plenty of other ways businesses can offer a bit of festive cheer to their employees this year," said Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library. "Allow employees the freedom to decorate their working space, invest in a few advent calendars for each team or organise a Secret Santa among workers."

Speaking of the gift-giving tradition, 83 per cent of professionals think that a Secret Santa is a great laugh, provided everything goes according to plan. Three out of ten workers said they have had problems running a Secret Santa because not everybody wanted to take part, while 17 per cent have had issues with people not liking the person for whom they had to buy a present.

Biggins remarked: "Adding some festive fun to the office is a great way to improve spirits and keep productivity levels up, especially if staff would rather be home with family than in the office. Just make sure no one is forced to participate and there are reasonable controls in place to keep things professional."